The Gallic Wars is a decisive conflict between the Roman Republic and the peoples of Gaul, which took place from 58 BC to 51 BC. It opposed Julius Caesar and various heads of Gallic nations, including - in the final phase - the Arverne Vercingetorix.
It is a major event in the history of ancient Rome and Europe.
* Major event in the history of Rome, because this conquest marked the definitive end of the threat - then still alive in the collective memory of the Romans - that the barbarian Gauls represented for Rome since the sack of the city by Brennus in 390 av. J.-C. (see the article Vae Victis!)
* Event, also major, in the history of Europe because the Gallo-Roman provinces will be the most populated of the Roman Empire and the hub of European trade.
Most of the historical knowledge about this war comes from the writings of Caesar himself, which he brings together in De bello Gallico or Commentaries on the Gallic War.
Gaul on the eve of the conquest
Under the pretext of military aid brought to Marseilles, the Roman general Sextius Calvinus conquers the territories of the Salyens and provokes the flight of their king. In August -121, the Romans, led by the consul Flavius, faced an Arverne and Allobroge coalition at the confluence of the Isère. Rome, in fact, attacks this last people under the pretext that it had welcomed the Salyan king as a refugee. The Arverne king, Bituitos, was then taken prisoner and taken in triumph to Italy. At the same time, the rival Gauls of the Arvernian hegemony, namely the Aedui, were received in the Senate and were proclaimed "friends of Rome". After this Gallic defeat, the rest of the territories located to the south and east of the Cévennes were quickly subjugated.
Since the end of the 3rd century BC, Rome has been mistress of Cisalpine Gaul, which extends from the Po plain to the Alps. At the end of the 2nd century, it subdued southern Gaul and the Rhone Valley, which it erected into a Roman province in -121:it was Transalpine Gaul, called Narbonnaise or simply Provincia. To the north stretches the immensity of Gaul.
Around -80, however, a chief named Celtillos, father of the future Vercingetorix, tries to restore sovereign power over the Arvernes, as in the time of Luernios and Bituitos. But he fails and is burned alive by the aristocracy of his people. His brother Gobannitio seems to have been his main rival during this affair, since it is known that he then became the first by his power among the Arvernes.
Caesar describes independent Gaul in his book I of the famous Commentaries on the Gallic Wars:
"The whole of Gaul is divided into three parts:one is inhabited by the Belgians, the other by the Aquitaine, the third by the people who, in their language, are called Celtic, and, in ours, Gauls. All these peoples differ from each other in language, customs, laws. The Gauls are separated from the Aquitaine by the Garonne, from the Belgians by the Marne and the Seine.
The bravest of these three peoples are the Belgians, because they are the furthest removed from the Roman Province and the refinements of its civilization, because the merchants very rarely go there, and, consequently, do not introduce there what which is calculated to soften hearts, finally because they are the closest neighbors of the Germans who live on the other bank of the Rhine, and with whom they are continually at war. [...]
The part of Gaul occupied, as we have said, by the Gauls begins at the Rhone, is bounded by the Garonne, the ocean and the border of Belgium; it also touches the Rhine on the side of the Sequans and the Helvetians; it faces north.
Belgium begins where Gaul ends; it goes to the lower course of the Rhine; it looks north and east.
Aquitaine extends from the Garonne to the Pyrenees and the part of the ocean that bathes Spain; it faces northwest."
War triggers
The ambitions of Julius Caesar
Caesar has just finished his period of consulship, following which he was entrusted with the government of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyria for 5 years with 3 legions at his disposal, then that of the Provincia of Transalpine Gaul, with a 4th legion. Here he is at the head of prestigious provinces.
But his military glory remains modest, especially compared to that of Pompey "the Great", who had just received a triumph in Rome in 61 BC. J.-C. César needs a grandiose victory which brings him the fame - to climb the Capitol in triumph, the only prestige which counts in the eyes of public opinion - and the enormous profits - he is largely in debt) which would make it possible to establish his power in Rome.
But the regions of the world where a great campaign is possible are not very numerous:the East being the preserve of Pompey, he can only envisage a campaign in the West, either towards the Danube or towards independent Gaul. It seems that Caesar first planned a campaign towards the vast territories crossed by the Danube. But a coincidence -the migration of the Helvetians in March 58 BC-, powerful economic interests which already associated the Italians with certain Gallic nations that were clients of Rome (Eduens, Arvernes...), and the fabulous prospect of pushing the legions towards unknown lands to the western confines of the universe, "this is what met the will to power and the desire for glory of a 41-year-old proconsul" (Christian Goudineau; César et la Gaule)
The migration of the Helvetians
The Helvetians feeling cramped in their territory, confined on one side by the Rhine which separates them from the Germans, on the other by the Jura which marks the border with the Séquanes, and on the third by Lake Geneva and the Rhône which separates them with Provincia (Roman province of Gaul Narbonnaise), they decide to emigrate in the country of Santons (current Saintonge).
Two routes are possible:one crosses the territory of the Séquanes. "Narrow and difficult, it is squeezed between the Jura and the Rhône, and the wagons barely pass through it one by one; a very high mountain dominates it, so that a handful of men can easily prevent it" (1 ). The other route goes through the Allobroges country, which is part of the Roman Provincia:this exit is much easier because the Rhône is fordable in several places. The Helvetians think that they will obtain free passage from the Allobroges, but in case of refusal they will compel them by force.
On the appointed day, the 5th of the Calends of April (March 24) of 58 BC, the Helvetians, joined by neighboring peoples (Rauraques, Tulinges, Latovices and Boiens), a total of 368,000 people, gather on the banks of the Rhône near Geneva, an Allobrogian city (therefore dependent on the Roman Provincia) and are preparing to cross the river. At this news, Caesar left Rome, reached Transalpine Gaul by forced marches and arrived in front of Geneva.
(1) Caesar - Commentaries on the Gallic Wars - Book I
Each campaign corresponds to a year. There were 8 in all, spanning from 58 BC. AD to 51 BC. AD
The first campaign
Roman offensive
It begins in 58 BC. J.-C. This intervention by Caesar marked the beginning of the Gallic Wars.
Everything will go very quickly for Caesar and his generals. The coalition of the Belgians is cut short from July 57 BC. J.-C. (Suessions beaten at Noviodunum then the Atrébates and Nerves at the Battle of the Sambre). In June 56 BC. AD the naval battle of Pouliguen allows the Romans to destroy the Venetian fleet. A year later, at the Battle of Fort Saint-André, the Romans crushed the Germanic troops.
The consequences
* Creation of an additional city in Hairy Gaul by the forced settlement of the Boii people, with the foundation of new oppida called Noviodunum in -52 by Caesar, including Gorgobina (the Boii).
* His easy victories made him understand the political and military weakness of this group of about sixty tribes living between the Province of Narbonnaise and the Rhine. His opportunism pushed him to try his luck.
Raids in Britain
At the time of Julius Caesar's first setbacks, the attack on Brittany was a failure. The attack of June 54 BC. AD will be a massacre. Indeed, after the submission of Londini the troops are bogged down. Meanwhile in Belgian Gaul, the revolt of the Eburones led by Ambiorix is victorious. During the defeat of Aduatuca the generals Sabinus and Cotta are killed. August 53 BC. AD Caesar enters Belgium with 60,000 men to kill Ambiorix. The attack is quick and victorious but the leader of the Eburones escapes.
The insurrection of 52 and the siege of Gergovie
In the presence:
* Julius Caesar
* Gallic leaders:Vercingetorix, Ambiorix, Boduognat
From January 52 BC. J.-C. the revolt becomes widespread and the chief Arverne Vercingétorix takes the head of an army. The Arverne offensive is disorganized during the Brioude attack (Feb.). Vercingetorix practices a scorched earth policy, but spares Bourges (which the Romans take). The victory of the siege of Gergovia (May-June 52 BC) allows the Arvernes to see the Aedui allied with them. But the Alésia disaster in September marked the end of the Gallic and Nordic resistance that raged in these commonly warlike times.